Hoax - Picture of 'World's Largest Tortoise'

Outline

Social media message claims that an attached photograph depicts the world's largest tortoise, found in the Amazon River, being transported along a roadway strapped to the bed of a large truck. A newer variant claims that the giant beast is a mutant caused by radiation leaked from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Brief Analysis

The "tortoise" is not real. The picture is a scene from the 2006 Japanese movie "Gamera the Brave" which features a giant turtle creature. At one point in the movie, the wounded Gamera is transported via a military truck to a research facility. The circulating image is apparently taken from this part of the movie.

Example

The Wolrd largest Tortise found in Amazon river its age around 529 /Hieght-59/Weight- 800 Pounds

Giant Fukushima Mutant Turtle Finally Captured By Japanese Military

Noto, Japan – Japan had to call on US naval seal teams to help reel the the iron-shelled beast in. Weighing in at over 7 tons, the locals had taken to calling the newest Fukushima mutant, quite literally translating to The Great Demon King Koopa (Bowser) of modern lore.

(Message includes a copy of the image displayed above.)

Detailed Analysis

According to this message, which has circulated widely via Facebook and other social media websites, an accompanying photograph depicts the world's largest tortoise being transported on the bed of a truck. The message claims that the massive tortoise was found in the Amazon River, weighs 800 pounds and is 529 years old.

A newer message featuring the same image claims
the giant beast is a mutant resulting from radiation leaked from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. The new version claims that the giant turtle was finally captured by the Japanese military. The Fukushima variant apparently originates from a fake "news" story published on the Topekasnews website.

Not surprisingly, the picture does not depict a real tortoise or turtle or even a "tortise". The picture is in fact taken from a 2006 Japanese movie titled "Gamera the Brave". The movie is one in a series of titles that feature a gigantic turtle with special powers. In this film, a young boy finds an egg that hatches a small turtle. The turtle grows very quickly and later flies away and does not return after the boy and his friends move him to an abandoned shack.

Later, the "kaiju" (strange beast or monster"), now enormous, reappears to do battle with the malevolent monster Zedus. However, the juvenile Gamera is bested by Zedus in the battle and is wounded. An article discussing the film on ScifiJapan.com explains what happens after the battle:

People line the streets to see Gamera. Before long, a military unit arrives and the unconscious kaiju is loaded onto a truck and transported to a research facility in Nagoya for scientific examination. Kousuke and Toru follow, and soon learn that the scientists have information that will hopefully help them to revive Gamera.

Incidentally, if the massive beast shown in the picture was actually real, it would almost certainly weigh much more than 800 pounds as claimed in the message. The Galápagos tortoise, the largest living species of tortoise, reach weights of more than 550 pounds, although they are considerably smaller - around five feet or so for the larger animals - than the monster depicted in the picture. Although the Galápagos tortoise cannot fly or battle deadly monsters like Gamera can, they are remarkable creatures that can live for more than 100 years in the wild. And, unlike Gamera, they actually exist in real life.

Last updated: November 2, 2013
First published: May 4, 2012
By Brett M. ChristensenAbout Hoax-Slayer